Chinese teen tops swimming with 7th Paralympic gold

Teenage Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan collected her seventh gold of the Paris Paralympics on Saturday, while the USA were aiming to win a third consecutive men’s wheelchair basketball title.

Jiang, 19, who lost her right arm and leg in a car accident at the age of four, landed gold number seven by breaking the Paralympic world record in the women’s 100m backstroke S6 to defeat US defending champion Jessica Long on the final day of the swimming programme.

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She was one of a trio of Chinese swimmers who won titles in a 30-minute period as Paris 2024 said goodbye to La Defense Arena, one of the most atmospheric of the venues for the Olympics and Paralympics.

The Chinese then collected a further six medals, including a sweep of the podium in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5, ensuring they finished top of swimming’s medals table for a fourth straight Games.

“It’s really incredible for me,” said Jiang. “I just finish each small goal, then have a rest and start again. I don’t overthink it, I just do it.”

“(Improving) the world record is a new challenge for me in the future. From now on, my competitor is myself,” she added.

Long, a double leg amputee, won the 18th gold medal of her career, and the 31st overall since her debut at Athens 2004, as she eased to the 100m butterfly S8.

– USA basketball dominance? –

At Bercy Arena, the USA men’s wheelchair team will aim to win a third title in a row but they face a hungry Great Britain team making their first appearance in a Paralympic final since 1996.

Sharp-shooting Team GB guard Gregg Warburton should provide a test for the Americans in the same arena where LeBron James led his USA team to Olympic glory four weeks ago.

At the Stade de France, British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockcroft won her second gold of this Games with victory in the T34 800m. It was the ninth Paralympic title of her career.

On the Roland Garros clay, Britain’s Alfie Hewett had one hand on the wheelchair tennis singles crown but it was ripped from his grasp by 18-year-old Japanese player Tokito Oda.

Hewett, who won gold in the doubles on Friday, had a gold medal point but had to settle for silver.

Meanwhile, the host nation had something to cheer when France won the men’s blind football gold medal in a penalty shootout against Argentina, after the match in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower finished 1-1.

The wheelchair fencing finished at the Grand Palais, a venue that has spawned millions of social media photos since it debuted at the Olympics, as China’s women won the epee team gold.

With several events still to be decided on the penultimate day of competition remaining, China led the medals table with 94 golds, Great Britain were second on 47 golds and the USA were third with 35.

The Netherlands remained fourth with 26 golds and Italy sit fifth on 24 golds.

AFP